ESA centrifuge opens door to high-gravity worlds

The LDC in action

30 September 2011

Astronauts’ jobs sometimes weigh heavy on them: crews returning from space briefly endure ‘g-loading’ more than four times Earth normal. Scientists interested in hypergravity need to create it for minutes, days or even weeks at a time. Fortunately, ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge does just that.

Loading...

Based at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, the centrifuge is designed not for astronaut training but for research. Jointly financed by ESA and the Dutch government, the centrifuge is available for a variety of applications.

“People propose all kinds of experiments – we assess them for scientific relevance, feasibility and safety,” explained ESA’s Jutta Krause.

“We perform physical, biological, geological and even astrogeological tests – one team investigated how crater impacts vary under higher gravity.

Extra gondolas can be added

“In addition, the centrifuge is open for industrial users to test and qualify hardware.”